Mark Lenz: Best winter food: Fried bologna? Pasties?

Cold winters and hearty food. The two go together like corned beef and cabbage.

Maybe we tend to think more about winter food due to some Neanderthal gene.

Must. Shovel. Driveway.

Must. Eat. Meat.

Maybe it's simply because we're indoors more, nearer to a refrigerator and oven, while waiting for the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens to play Super Bowl XLVII.

Whatever the reason, food talk heats up when it's cold. Even ice cream. We posted on Facebook that The Spotted Cow is planning a third location. In less than a day we had 120 comments about where the new location should go. (The owners confirmed Saturday that it will be located in downtown Tecumseh where The Chocolate Vault was located.)

— An unusual food spot last week was on Lake Adrian. It finally turned cold enough for intrepid ice fishermen. (Beware of thinner ice this week. Temperatures are due to rise.) Out on the ice, past the "No Swimming" sign, Mike Harmon and Tommy Smith used an improvised platform on which to cook fried bologna for sandwiches, and to heat up some beans. Ice fishing, after all, is no spring picnic.

— Another food-themed activity was Chocopalooza on Saturday, which featured a good turnout of people and vendors at Adrian High School. Whether you tried some of the chocolate-dipped shortbreads from the Governor Croswell Tea Room, noticed that Frosty Boy will be opening early Feb. 22 this year or just watched as Karisa Westlake won the Chocolate Detection contest with chopsticks, there was plenty to see, do and eat.

— My favorite food location this week will be Adrian's First United Methodist Church, where 400 volunteers like Wilma Baker of Clayton will help make thousands of pasty pies Thursday and Friday.

Just in time. My last pasties from 2012 were cooked up Friday, and made a delicious meal. Must have been the local ingredients that kept them so fresh.

People willing to volunteer to make this year's can join the fun on Thursday afternoon and Friday. If interested, please call Cindy Frownfelder at 265-6157 or email her at cindyf@habitat-lenawee.org. To place an order, call the Habitat for Humanity office at 265-6157 on Monday or call Ann Righter at 263-4097. Information also is on its website at www.habitat-lenawee.org.Then, sit back and debate. Plain, ketchup or gravy?

Mark Lenz, editor of The Daily Telegram, can be contacted at 265-5111, ext. 230, or via email at mlenz@lenconnect.com.